Schools, businesses hope to learn from each other

Wisconsin State Roundup

For years, teachers in the Boyceville school district knew little about
one of the town's major businesses, even though the company was located
within throwing distance of the schools. Recently, though, the schools
and the company came together to learn about each other, and now the company
sponsors a marketing contest with the schools.

Those are the types of results that Boyceville school superintendent
Steve Ashmore hopes to have with the new Business-Education Partnerships
Project in Dunn County. The project, which encompasses school districts
in Boyceville, Colfax, Elk Mound and Menomonie, began this fall and has
been funded for one year by a grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation and
funds from other groups.

"We know we need to have better communication, and this is a step in
the right direction," Ashmore says.

The Project is coordinated by one staff person based in Menomonie who
arranges tours of businesses and schools for local teachers and business
owners, and who encourages regular communication between the two. A database
of county businesses, along with their job-entry prerequisites, is also
under development. This database, which will be accessible through the
schools, will not only give students accurate and up-to-date information
on the local job market, but will also let the schools know what skills
employers are demanding of their workers.

"This tells us: They need 'this.' Are we teaching the kids the right
things?" Ashmore says.

The Project is meant to serve as an information brokerage or conduit,
says Richard Best, executive director of the West Central Wisconsin Private
Industry Council (PIC), a non-profit workforce development organization
of business and other community members. If a business wants information
on local schools or is interested in programs that other businesses or
schools are undertaking, the Project can provide that information and
offer guidance, Best says.

For example, in addition to linking students with jobs through its database,
the Project can: